The MSPT returned to the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas for the third this season, hosting an $1,100 buy-in, $500K GTD Main Event for the 2024 NFL kickoff.
A total of 612 entries (97 from Day 1a; 182 from 1b; 333 from 1c) were tallied and on Sunday, 69 players returned to Day 2 action to take their stab at the $590,580 prize pool.
Of those 69 players, only one was able to claim the top spot and that was WPT champ Carl Oman who navigated his way through the tough field to claim the $90,000 first place prize along with his first MSPT title!
“I love it”, Oman said after being asked what’s like to be an MSPT Champion, “I missed out on this trophy a twice before so I’m glad to be taking it home with me this time.”
With over $700,000 in lifetime tournament earnings, the score wasn’t the largest of his career, but it sure helps his retirement plan, which he has his sights on doing soon.
“I’m still working full time now but plan on retiring soon and start playing full time and when I do, you guys will be seeing a lot more of my ugly mug then you wish”, Oman jokingly said in his closing statement.
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 69 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with top poker vlogger Jaman Burton flushing out Sungwoo Tae for the first elimination of the day.
After Tae hit the deck, a flurry of “payouts” could be heard throughout the room, as handfuls of players were walking to the payout table which included the likes of DJ Buckley (51st Place – $2,769), MSPT champ “Scary” Terry Fleischer (50th Place - $2,769), MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Massey (49th Place – $2,348), two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (48th Place - $2,769), and six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (45th Place - $2,769).
Buckley was able to notch another cash in the record book while MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz did the same by extending his lead in both the GOAT Rankings & ICON Standings with his 40th place exit ($3,092).
While those players fell by the wayside, it was around this time MSPT champ Gerald Cunniff made a huge call to take the chip lead from WSOP bracelet winner Michael Liang, and was able to outlast the likes of Taylor Black (35th Place - $3,498), WSOP bracelet winner Francis Anderson (31st Place - $3,498), fellow bracelet winner Giuseppe Pantaleo (29th Place - $3,498), and Ben Palmer (14th Place - $6,517) before taking a 13th place exit of his own for $7,856.
The cash marked Cunniff’s 24th in a Main Event as he inched his way closer into the coveted MSPT Hall of Fame and he only needs one more cash to join the decorated group.
Final Table Action
Once the final table was set, Liang found himself holding sizeable chip lead over the rest while fellow bracelet winner Joey Couden sat towards the bottom of the counts and found a premium made hand of queens to roll his chips with.
Unfortunately for Couden, he would run his ladies into Anderson Barbosa Rocha Silva’s better pair of aces and ended up as the first final table elimination.
After Couden hit the rail, the chips started to shuffle around the table which saw Matt Paradis catapult to the top of the chip counts after he cracked MSPT champ Veerab Zakarian’s pocket aces while Liang lost back-to-back all in battles against Thai Dinh to take a disappointing eighth place finish.
A full level of poker was played before the next body would fall which sparked an elimination spree that would see Oman dismantle his remaining opponents one-by-one.
It all started when he tussled with chip leader Paradis which saw Oman turn a flush to crack Paradis’ trip jacks, sending him to the bottom of the chip counts as he took seventh place exit shortly after the loss.
Next on Oman’s hit list was former champ Zakarian who got his chips in ahead holding ace-jack off only to come-up short on the runout, ending his run sixth place for $23,957.
Oman would continue putting in work as he looked at a made hand of jacks to send Andrew Rodgers home in fifth place for $41,941 and then picked-up a dominating ace to eliminate Silva shortly after in fourth place for $40.064.
With Oman holding a sizeable chip lead over his final two opponents, an ICM chop was discussed and agreed upon which saw him take home the title while Triet Nguyen made $63,228 for his thrid place finish while Dinh finished runner-up for a career best $70,000.
This concludes our coverage for this event, but Season 15 of the MSPT continues this week as we head San Diego's Sycuan Casino for their third Showdown Series of the season which is headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, 300K GTD Main Event and as always, that will be reported by our live reporting team starting Thursday, September 19th so make sure to tune in!